On Friday, November 21, the Day 1 of the first Ashes 2025-26 Test match between Australia and England saw a spectacular record moment raised by fast bowler Mitchell Starc from Australia. After Joe Root who had been the captain of England and was the star batsman at the time got out for a duck in the morning session, Starc became the first-ever left-arm pacer to take 100 wickets in the Ashes.
After winning the toss, England’s Ben Stokes decided to bat first in Perth. England’s bowling attack was entirely pace-oriented as they dropped off-spinner Shoaib Bashir from the playing eleven. Brydon Carse, Jofra Archer, Gus Atkinson, and Mark Wood formed the pace quartet. In contrast, the Australian team gave debuts to Brendan Doggett and Jake Weatherald.
Mitchell Starc Gets Joe Root Out For A Duck In The First Test Of Ashes 2025-26
After the dismissal of Ben Duckett in the seventh over, Joe Root came to the crease as the next batsman. Starc had already made a strong impact by taking over Zak Crawley in the very first over. England very briefly regained their composure through some aggressive shots.
Root, who had previously been the player having hard times in Australia, looked like he was already defeated at the very beginning. He nearly nicked the second ball he faced and was still fighting for control as Starc continued to test him with the ball’s movement.
Starc bowled a delivery that moved in after pitching on the leg-stump line, and Root tried to flick it away but only succeeded in making visible the outside edge of the bat. The ball went straight into the hands of Marnus Labuschagne, stationed at third slip, and Root had to return to the dressing room without troubling the umpire.
Mitchell Starc takes his place as the first left-arm fast bowler to accomplish 100 wickets in the Ashes.
Mitchell Starc is not only the 21st bowler but also the first left-arm fast bowler to acquire 100 wickets in the Ashes. In fact, his strike rate of 44.8 happens to be the best of all the bowlers who have managed to get past the 100-wicket barrier.
Starc is next to Mitchell Johnson among left-arm fast bowlers who got the 87th wicket. He hit the 100-wicket mark in 23 Tests against England at a run of the mill average in the mid-20s, with four five-wicket hauls and a best of 6/111 to his name.
In his home country of Australia, the 35-year-old has taken over 43 wickets in 10 matches during the Ashes series at a great average, which includes a five-wicket haul. Besides that, he has picked up 56 more wickets from 13 matches in England, out of which three are five-wicket hauls.
Starc has reached the milestone of 405 wickets in 101 matches at a bowling average of over 27, which includes 16 five-wicket hauls and 20 four-wicket returns. He is also a decent batsman scoring over 2,300 runs with 11 fifties to his name.
